Nelli ZhiganshinaOlympic athlete

Nelli Nailevna Zhiganshina (Russian: Нелли Наильевна Жиганшина; born March 31, 1987 in Moscow, Russia) is a Russian ice dancer who currently competes for Germany with Alexander Gazsi. They are three-time (2007, 2011, 2012) German national champions.
Zhiganshina began skating in 1990 at the age of three. She took up ice dancing at 12. Zhiganshina competed with Denis Bazdyrev for Russia until 2004. In 2005, she teamed up with Alexander Gazsi to compete for Germany; they trained mainly in Moscow, Russia, with coaches Elena Kustarova and Svetlana Alexeeva and, during summers, in Berlin and Chemnitz due to Gazsi's army service. They later changed coaches to Alexander Zhulin and Oleg Volkov, also in Moscow.
Zhiganshina and Gazsi won bronze at their first German Championships in 2006, their only competition of the season. The next season they won their first national title, placed 16th at the 2007 Europeans and 18th at Worlds.
During the 2007-08 season, they made their debut on the Grand Prix circuit, placing 7th at Skate Canada and 8th at Cup of Russia. They won silver at German Nationals and again finished 18th at Worlds.